It’s official! Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mezinsky are expecting their first child. The surprise announcement was made last week, at the Lower Eastside Girls Club in New York City—an event she was hosting with her mother, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Chelsea stated, "Marc and I are very excited that we have our first child arriving later this year. And I certainly feel all the better, whether it’s a girl or a boy, that she or he will grow up in a world with so many strong, young female leaders.” According to the Washington Post, Clinton added, "I just hope I will be as good a mom to my child and hopefully children as my mom was to me.” The Post also reported that Hillary was “really excited” to learn the news of her future grandchild. After the big announcement, the Clinton Family took to Twitter to make comments:

And the excitement didn’t stop there. Recent mother and fellow former president’s daughter, Jenna Bush Hager tweeted: “Congratulations @ChelseaClinton! Welcome to the best club in the world. Mamahood is wonderful.xx”

The news was not entirely unexpected though. Last year, in an interview with Glamour magazine, Clinton said that she and her husband planned for 2014 to be “the year of the baby.”

But just because a baby is on the way, don’t expect her to slow down too much. Clinton currently serves as vice chair of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, where she helps direct the humanitarian and philanthropic efforts of the organization around the world. She also serves as a special correspondent for NBC News.

In just a few short weeks, Chelsea Clinton and husband, Marc Mezvinsky, will be celebrating their third wedding anniversary. Since that elegant and memorable July 31st day, the two have managed to stay out of the public eye, for the most part, when it comes to their marriage. But unfortunately, even a quiet couple such as these two, haven’t been able to keep out of the divorce rumor mill. The couple has made it clear, though, that they are in no way on the verge of divorce. In fact, in March of this year, the two purchased a luxurious $10.5 million dollar New York apartment. So are kids soon to be on the way for Clinton and Mezvinsky? According to US magazine, Clinton shares that her mother, Hillary stated that “[parenthood] was the greatest thing that ever happened to her. And as the subject of such an amazing compliment, I can't do anything but be grateful and smile and say that I'm confident that I will feel the same way when I am so blessed. It's certainly something that Marc and I talk a lot about." As of now, no pregnancy has been announced, but there is talk of adoption. The humanitarian duo are planning on adopting a child from Africa. Being the daughter of two incredibly influential political figures, it is no wonder that Clinton has thought about one day running for public office. She expressed to the Today show, back in April, “If at some point that weren't true and I thought I could make a meaningful and measurably greater impact, I'd have to ask and answer that question.” In most recent news, Clinton discusses her gratitude for organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, not being attainable when her grandmother became unintentionally pregnant. Though she is not directly stating that she is against abortion, or anti-pro-choice, she is thankful that because of their lack of existence, she is the daughter to her father, Bill Clinton. Chelsea Clinton has made quite a splash in the influential pool. She is working towards her PhD, a part of Clinton Global initiative, co-founder of Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leader at NYU, co-chair person for Clinton Foundation, serves on the board of the School of American Ballet, and is a special correspondent for “Making a Difference” on NBC. Who’s to tell what Clinton has in store for the future, but if it is anything like the path she’s traveled so far, it will be quite spectacular.

July 31, 2010: Chelsea and Marc are married

Why we love Chelsea ?

Genevieve De Manio / AP

The Chelsea Clinton wedding to Marc Mezvinsky is heading toward the history books with a full head of steam.Driven by America’s bi-partisan respect for this dignified, private presidential child, who has endured so much, and taking place only hours from the media capital of the world, this wedding will surely rank as one of the top social events in American history.Why we love Chelsea?

1.She is the ugly duckling who has become a beautiful swan.As an insecure, twelve year old in the White House she was lampooned by Saturday Night Live and the butt of cruel partisan jokes.Today she is a drop dead, gorgeous young lady who is having the last laugh.She is “the comeback kid of the comeback kid.”

2.During the White House she kept her mouth shut.Because Chelsea refused to answer critics or even her parents’ political antagonists during those years she became a blank slate for Americans of all stripes and opinions to write upon.They could imagine her feelings in their own way as they watched the great personal story of her family unfold.

3.She is a survivor.We watch reality shows with less drama than Chelsea has suffered.To offer a comparison, the last president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson.His son was terribly traumatized by the process and apparently took his own life shortly after the Johnson’s left the White House.I once asked George W. Bush, “Which is harder, running for president or watching your father run for president?”He didn’t hesitate.It was harder to watch his father run.

We may never know the pain that Chelsea Clinton suffered alone, without a sibling or friend to trust, as every crude and intimate story of her parents’ life was passed over the transom.But in spite of the odds she has clearly landed on her feet.She has been resilient.

4. She has maintained her dignity.She is Rudyard Kipling’s hero, who kept her head when all around her were losing theirs.She has not become bitter.She has never answered back the terrible things that have been said about her or her parents.Not a word to a friend has surfaced.She has remained transcendent, above the angry furor raging beneath her.

Chelsea's wedding in history

Barbara Kinney / AP

The story of the recent Jenna Bush wedding is covered on this website. Here are five other great weddings of presidential children in American history.Offer your own assessment of how the Chelsea Clinton wedding compares.

1. The White House wedding of Maria Monroe.An event marred by a murder, it was the first great social event in American history.It became the subject of Cabinet Meetings.The uninvited diplomatic corps became enraged and the resultant furor stiffened the president’s spine as he enunciated his famous Monroe Doctrine, our most enduring foreign policy initiative.

2. The wedding of Fanny Hayes, daughter of President Rutherford B. Hayes.She came to the White House at the same age of Malia Obama. And the nation followed her life.Only when both of her parents died did she finally marry.The nation was overjoyed.The ceremony was held in Ohio and the sitting president and his cabinet took their private trains to journey to the event.

3. The Westminster Abbey wedding of Esther Cleveland.Now this one gets complex.Imagine trying to explain the Clintons in one paragraph?President Grover Cleveland married his own ward in a White House ceremony.He was 49, she was 21.Much of the nation was outraged.The president did not kiss the bride at the White House wedding.But when the couple had a child of their own, the nation was smitten.It was not the baby’s fault.The lives of Ruth Cleveland and later her sister Esther were followed avidly.When Ruth died at age 12, the nation went into deep morning.The Curtis Candy Company issued its controversial “Baby Ruth” candy bar.When Esther finally married minor English gentry at Westminster Abbey in London, England it captured the news on both continents.

4. Alice Roosevelt may have had the greatest wedding in American history.She is referred to by some as the first great female celebrity of the 20th century.She shocked the nation by smoking cigarettes in public and driving a car without a chaperone but was too popular for pulpits to condemn.The number one hit song in the country was about her.There was a color named for her.Alice’s wedding to congressman Nicholas Longworth covered every inch of the front page of the Washington Post.

5. Tricia Nixon’s wedding represented the high water mark in weddings for presidential children.After the two Johnson daughter dress rehearsals, this resulted in national television specials that ran in prime time with photographs and some film footage of the event.Tricia Nixon Cox was a stunner, who appeared twice on the cover of Life Magazine.

Chelsea Clinton’s wedding comes in a different time.With a world of terrorists and suicide bombers, no parent, especially a parent in political life, wants to see their daughter’s face appear on magazine covers around the world.Privacy has become an important part of security.But the curiosity and good wishes of the American public have no such restraints.This wedding will be ranked by many as one of the ten greatest social events in our history.

This wedding in history?

Tears of a father

Chelsea's Big Day

A review, how the story unfolded:

The News Breaks

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the sitting secretary of state, is engaged to be married. According to an e-mail that she and longtime boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, sent to friends this afternoon, the wedding will take place next summer. A spokesman for the Clinton family has confirmed it.

The lucky man

Marc Mezvinsky will be the groom

Her boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, is the son of Democratic congressman Ed Mezvinsky and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky. Both served in the United States congress representing Iowa and Pennsylvania respectively. Marjorie was a force to be reckoned with in Pennsylvania politics, running as the Democrat candidate for Lt. Governor in 1998 until her husband’s financial problems forced her to withdraw. Ed Mezvinsky reportedly served a prison sentence for fraud but was released in April, 2008.

The Romance

Chelsea and Marc met in Washington, DC and both attended Stanford University. Several major news agencies have staked out the couple off and on for years. During President Clinton’s ongoing Monica Lewinsky scandal one major television network was going to break a story about the couple’s romance but backed off out of respect for their privacy. At the time I was working on the book, All the Presidents’ Children, and a person representing himself as an associate producer offered me his notes. I declined.

Chelsea and Marc live in New York where she attends school and he works for Goldman Sachs.

The Chelsea Clinton Fun Political Boomlet

On the Campaign Trail

Working for Mom

Chelsea, the so-called "Garbo of presidential children", surprised reporters last year when she campaigned openly and publicly for her mother’s presidential campaign. Her new public persona inspired “Chelsea for president” campaign buttons. She is currently attending Columbia University.

Why Caroline Kennedy became an ambassador? Written before her appointment as Ambassador to Japan, this is a fascinating comparison to Robert Todd Lincoln. Both Caroline's grandfather and uncle were ambassadors to the Court of St. James?